The Last Flight
by SailorKMoonie
Summary: The Rescuers Down Under. Cody and Marahute were best friends. What happens when he grows up and revisits with a friend. Romance, adventure and new friends. Cody x OC Chapter 1 redone!
1. New Arrivals

**Hey I was watching The Rescuers Down Under and my fav part is the beginning where Marahute takes Cody flying. So I thought about what happens to them when he's older.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Rescuers, Cody or Marahute…or the scenery. But I did create the new names and the character Rose. **

**"The Last Flight"**

Chapter 1

(New Arrivals)

"Cody, where are we going?" said the woman of 17 with long red hair in a pony tail. Her red hair had gotten her the name, Rose. She was dressed in khaki shorts and a light blue tank that contrasted her hair. Her look was completed with black and brown hiking boots.

She looked over the edge of the canyon to her, blonde headed, 18 yr old, boyfriend repelling down the face of the cliff. He was dressed in a red tee with denim short and hiking boots.

"Isn't this a little dangerous without ropes?" she asked. She wasn't afraid of heights or slipping. She and Cody were expert rock climbers but still. They had recently come back from Sydney where they both attended Sydney Institute of Technology for summer break. Cody had invited her to his childhood home for 3 weeks. Some of the things that Cody told her were a little unbelievable.

_flashback_

_"Cody, what are you talking about?" she had asked him while he talked about his adventures in the Outback._

_"Yeah, he really tried to feed me to the crocodiles!" Cody said while walking thru campus toward their next class._

_Rose moved her mouth to the side in disbelief. She thought he was just trying to impress her. "I'm sorry Cody; I have a hard time believing you were captured by a poacher for a rare giant bird and he was going to kill you off, and at the last moment this giant eagle saved you." _

_Cody's face fell in disappointment then it brightened. "Alright." He said. "I admit that the story is a bit far a fetched. So how bout I prove it to you. This summer come with me to our cabin out in the outback. I'll show you." He said with his arms crossed in front of him. _

_Rose smiled "Alright, your on, I'll go."_

_end of flashback_

_'So now I'm here'_ she thought. She sighed before starting down the face of the cliff. "You'd better not look up!" she yelled down to him.

"Sorry." Came the reply.

She rolled her eyes and continued down ward. She heard a thump and looked down to see that Cody had landed on a small ledge before he disappeared into the face of the cliff. She blinked and continued until she fell into the ledge as well. She looked around to see that part of the cliff had been scooped out to provide a hole of sorts. She followed Cody thru the leaves, sticks and feathers, till he stopped in the center and kneeled down as a small lump of grass. She bent over behind him propping her hands on her knees. "What is it?" she asked.

He moved the dirt to reveal 4 huge ostrich sized eggs. Cody smiled then slowly frowned.

"These must be her last eggs." He said sadly.

"Whose eggs?" Rose asked.

Suddenly a shadow fell across the two. They both whipped around to face the opening of the nest. Cody smiled and stood up while Rose's eyes widened and she took a few steps back. A great golden eagle took up the entrance of the nest. Cody trotted toward the entrance of the ledge while Rose stared at the great golden eagle before her. Cody went up and hugged the great bird while the eagle ran her beak, carefully, thru his hair.

Rose's mouth opened and closed. "Cody…what are you doing?" she asked. _'That animal could murder us both.' _She thought.

Cody smiled. "Rose, this is Marahute. She's the one I've told you about." He turned back to Marahute. Rose saw two tears escape Cody's eyes as he whispered to his childhood friend. "It's been so long girl, how are you? Where are Lightning, Arana and Kiah?" he asked still rubbing his face in the soft white feathers.

Rose stood there with her mouth open. "It's true." She said, still not believing it herself. Marahute turned her red eyes toward Rose, turned her head sideways in confusion then looked toward Cody. Cody walked toward Rose and took her hand. He dragged her toward Marahute and placed her hand on her neck, helping her stroke her. He let her go before going to stand on the other side of Marahute.

"Don't worry girl, she's a friend. She won't hurt you or your eggs."

The great eagle bobbed her head in understanding.

Rose's eyes widened. "She can understand you?" she asked still petting the soft feathers.

Cody nodded his head. "Yeah, she and I used to go flying all the time. But now I'm a bit heavier, and she can't carry me like she used to. We'll have to wait till Lightning or Arana gets here."

Marahute waddled over to the nest and settled herself over the eggs.

Cody smiled in peace. He saw Marahute look past him outside the nest. Cody looked behind him and Rose followed the motion. They saw a darker shade of gold flash across the gorge. Cody smiled again as the shape came closer to land on the landing. Rose gaped at the creature. This eagle was even bigger than Marahute; he looked at Cody and Rose before striding forward to settle beside his mate.

Rose crossed her arms. "This must be Goliath." She said matter-of-factly.

Cody nodded. After he was rescued from the crocodiles, by Bianca and Bernard, he flew over to McLeash's lair with Marahute to free all the animals. He found Goliath trapped in the back store room, trapped as Marahute had been trapped when Cody had first met her. He released him and watched the two reunite.

_'Now their second set of eggs was almost ready to hatch.'_ Cody thought. He had been flying off to find food for his mate. He gave her the other half of rabbit he had captured before curling up and going to sleep. Rose smiled as Cody gave one last pet to Marahute and stood back up. Marahute gave one last head rub against Cody's leg. "You send Goliath to come get me when the eggs are about to hatch." He told her. She bowed her head as if to say 'of course'. He walked toward the lip of the crevice and put his fingers to his lips. He gave three piercing whistles. He turned to Rose with a shine in his eyes. "This is where the fun begins."

Rose smiled nervously as 3 golden flashed crossed the side of her vision. Suddenly Cody took a flying leap off the cliff edge and started to fall he flipped and spun in the air. Rose screamed until she saw one of the eagles fly toward him and just before he crashed into the ground the eagle came under him and caught him, taking him back up to the crevice where Rose was. "Come on Rose try it! It's exhilarating! Oh I almost forgot this is Lightning." he pointed at his ride while they did lazy circles in the air.

Rose gave him a fake smile. "I don't think so."

Cody gave her a sad, pleading face.

Rose sighed and looked into his eyes. She trusted Cody with her life, but this? "You promise they won't let me crash?" she asked.

Cody nodded. "I promise, they won't let you crash, they love this game. I'll make sure Arana catches you. She's an expert, almost as good as her mom."

Realization dawned on Rose's face. "Ah, so these are Marahute's kids."

Cody nodded. "Yep, I grew up with them; they're like siblings to me." He stroked the long feathers on Lightning's back as he flew in circles. "Lightning here is the closest to me, probably cause he's the only boy with 2 sisters."

Rose sighed again and walked to the side of the cliff. She bit her lip before going back into the cave. She looked back out, brought her hands up in fists and ran out to jump out into the canyon air in a Pocahontas pose. As beautiful and the bottom of the canyon looked she knew, that's not what was taking her breath away. As gravity started to take her she spread out her legs and arms and watched the gold streak start to fly under her. Just like Cody said, at the last second the soft yet hard body came under and she carefully gripped some feathers as Arana took her back to the top of the canyon.

She thought she would be taken back to the nest but instead Arana decided to take her over the canyon towards the forest. She caught a glimpse of Cody on Lightning and Kiah on both sides of her. She looked ahead of her and grinned at the sight of the forest and river under great hills of clouds as Arana took her up into the air. Cody came up beside her.

"Isn't this great?" he shouted over the wind whipping past them. In the fall Rose's hair tie had come off and now her hair was flying free.

She grinned back, tears of joy in her eyes. "This is amazing Cody! How could you tear yourself away from it?" she asked

Cody looked around "When I'm up here, I ask myself the same question."

Suddenly, simultaneously, both Lightning and Arana flipped them into the air and caught them by the arms. Rose screamed but at the same time in the back of her head knew that Arana would catch her. Cody laughed. Rose glared at him, before he looked down then back at Rose. "I've taught them a special course. The best part is yet to come."

As they took them down toward the river Cody's and Rose's feet dragged thru the water, Arana and Lightning let them go before pushing behind them toward what Rose saw was a waterfall. She looked to Cody and saw him spread his arms straight out. Rose did the same. Rose felt as if her grin and tears couldn't express the happiness she felt as the wind stroked her hair and the land flashed underneath them as they both leaped of the cliff in sheer joy and exuberance and landed on the eagle's backs. Rose was still lying down but she looked over to see Cody standing on Lighting's back like he was surfing. Rose smiled. She could almost see the small kid she had seen in all the pictures smiling back at her.

They decided to call it a day and told the eagles to take them home. On the way to Cody's cabin Rose crawled forward to look into Arana's eyes. Instead of Marahute's red eyes, she was looking into large emerald green eyes. She smiled and said "Arana." out loud. The name felt good on her lips. She rubbed her face against the golden feathers. And as they touched down and Rose slid off her back, a golden feather fell to the ground. Arana picked it up in her beak an offered it to her. Rose smiled and accepted the gift hugging Arana's neck in thank you.

Cody watched the whole thing while leaning against Lightning, smiling. He was glad that his…._'girl who is a friend'_ he thought, was happy and had bonded to one of the rarest creatures on Earth. As they watched the three eagles take off Cody put his arm around Rose's shoulders. "So, what do you think?" he asked her, resting his head against hers.

She smiled up at him. "I don't think words could describe it. It's like all I feel is happiness, glorious happiness."

Cody sighed. "That sounds about right." They both walked back into the cabin, exhausted. The sun was just starting to set, that made it around 5 o'clock. Yet they both knew that it didn't matter. They were in the middle of nowhere, and they didn't have to go by any rules.

**Hey, hope you enjoy. There will be more; I have a whole story planned out. Don't forget to R&R. **

**SailorKMoonie**


	2. Danger

**Hey readers. Hope u enjoy. Same disclaimer as the 1st chapter. **

**Chapter 2**

**(Danger)**

Cody slept away in his old hammock with a white undershirt and boxers under a light sheet. One arm was above his head while the other rested on his chest. Suddenly his world was thrown sideways as he fell to the ground with a whump! "What? What? What?" he asked while looking around, now fully awake. He pushed his bangs out of his face.

His eyes found a pair of tan long legs connected to Rose in a light blue tank top with khaki short and hiking boots. She had managed to fashion her golden feather into a necklace with the feather hanging down attached to a leather cord. Apparently she had been trying to wake him up and nothing had worked. So she tipped the hammock.

"Come on Cody, look outside!" she told him. "And put some pants on." She ran out of the room and soon Cody heard the screen door slam.

He looked at the clock, it was only 4 am. He groaned and dragged his feet to the window, only to jump back in shock. Looking at him thru the window was Lightning, who tilted his head to the side in confusion when Cody fell back.

As Cody got back up he petted Lightning's head. "Is it time boy?" The great eagle head bobbed. Cody grinned and rummaged around his room for a pair of shorts and his boots. Before running out the front door and swinging onto Lightning's back.

Rose was already ready for take off on Arana. Goliath took off first followed quickly by his 2 children. As they soared thru the night sky, Rose could see the morning light just start to peek over the horizon. The wind blew into her face and whipped her hair back like a cape flapping in the wind. She looked over to Cody with a big grin on his face. Cody looked back at her with a smile she had only seen the day before when he had seen Marahute land in the crevice and when he was flying with Lightning. _'He's so handsome when he smiles like that_' she thought, then shook her head, thankful that the darkness hid her blush. _'He'll never see me as anything but a friend_.' She thought sadly. As they came over the canyon lip, Rose's face brightened. She could see Kiah flying around in circles around the nest in nervousness.

As Lightning and Arana dropped them off, Cody trotted off to Marahute who was staring at her eggs as they wriggled and rolled back and forth. Suddenly the air was filled with little cracking sounds. Rose moved to stand next to Cody and took his hand. Lightning, Arana and Kiah moved in to get a closer look as their new siblings peeped their heads out for the first time. Rose couldn't help but "awww" as they stumbled out of their eggs.

Cody smiled and rubbed Marahute's beak. "Congratulations girl." Marahute settled down next to them to feed them while Rose gave a yawn.

Cody looked at Rose and smiled. He looked back to Marahute. "I'm happy for ya girl, thank you for sharing this with us, but we have to go. We'll name them tomorrow." He walked to one of the walls in the cave and reached into a niche. He brought out a sling with a rope attached to each end.

Rose's eyelids were about to shut for good. Cody grabbed her hand and took her toward the edge of the cliff. He gave one rope to Arana and the other to Kiah.

Rose was starting to droop from exhaustion when Cody caught her and picked her up bridal style. He carried her to the makeshift hammock and laid her along the length. He nodded to the girls and they took off with the ropes in their claws, so Rose would sleep thru the flight while riding in the hammock. Cody leaped onto Lightning's back from the edge of the crevice. _'Wouldn't be too good if she fell off Aranas's back during the flight would it' _he though to himself. He saluted Marahute and Goliath before flying off into the early morning.

As they landed at Cody's cabin, Cody slid of the soft feathers and thumped onto the hard ground. He turned to his partner and leaned his forehead on Lightning's beak. "Okay boy, I'll see you tomorrow, and I'll bring you something special for a treat" He told him. Lightning ran his beak thru Cody's hair in affection before taking off with Arana and Kiah, who had already placed Rose on the ground.

He watched them disappear into the clouds before going to find Rose still lying on the now flat hammock in a deep slumber. He picked her up again and carried her inside the house to her bed. He laid her down and tucked her in. He smiled as he moved her hair away from her face. Before he could stop himself he kissed her lightly on the lips. When he realized what he had done he shot his head back and waited to see if she was going to wake up. Thankfully she was a deep sleeper. He snuck out of the room before rubbing his eyes in frustration and going back outside to gather up the hammock and going back inside to sleep for another few hours.

Rose awoke and looked out the window to find that the sun was already high in the sky. She blinked and furrowed her brow in confusion. _'How did I get here?'_ she thought. She sat up in bed and thought back to a few hours ago. '_Arana had woken her up by tapping at her window. She looked outside to find Goliath and Lightning waiting for them. She got dressed and rushed to Cody to wake him up before going to greet Arana with a hug and showing her the necklace she made. Then after the eggs hatched she remembered being really tired, Cody had taken her hand…then...I can't remember.' As hard as she thought, she couldn't remember how she got home. Well now that I'm awake I might as well get something to eat. _She was ravenous.She jumped out of bed and changed into a loose t-shirt and denim shorts. She trudged into the small kitchen and found the cereal and milk and chowed-down on Cheerios. Suddenly a low horn sounded. And Rose tilted her head to hear it better. It sounded off again. She finished her Cheerios quickly and rushed outside. She couldn't see what was making the noise. _'Cody might know.' _she thought.

She ran to Cody's room and shook him awake. He opened his eyes and they widened when he focused on Rose. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" he yelled, as he tumbled out of the hammock, thinking of the kiss a few hours ago.

She looked at him with confusion. "What?" she asked. "Didn't mean to do what?"

Cody flicked his eyes back and forth. "Uhhh, I had a bad dream." He explained with an obvious fake smile.

Rose gave him an I-don't-believe-you look before shaking her head. The noise was still sounding."Can't you hear that?" she asked.

Cody listened and his eyes grew wide again. "Come on, we've got to go." He told her while pulling a red shirt over his head.

"What?" she asked again. "What's that sound? What's going on?" she asked while he shoved his feet in boots.

He grabbed her hand as he rushed out the door. She stopped him and ran to her room to grab her backpack and change into a white cami. She rushed back out and followed Cody out the door into the forest. As Rose ran after him she watched Cody look along the ground and shout names to rocks and trees. And before Rose's eyes, kookaburras, wombats and kangaroos were flying and running next to them. Finally they came to a clearing where a kangaroo was about to blow into a fallen trunk.

"What happened this time Faloo?" Cody asked the kangaroo.

If Rose hadn't seen him communicating with Marahute and the other forest creatures, she might have feinted when she heard Faloo begin to speak to Cody. As it was she managed to stand and listen to Faloo.

Faloo's face was grave "I'm sorry Cody, but early this morning Marahute and her newborns were captured. We think it's a relative of Mcleash's. I'm sorry I can't carry you but we think he took them to Mcleash's old lair. I've sent a message to the Rescue Aid Society. They're coming as soon as they can. Meanwhile Goliath is devastated and won't move from the nest." She paused "I know you're close to her, I think you're her only hope."

Cody fell to his knees in shock, Rose out her hand on his shoulder. Without any emotion, Cody reached thru the neck of his shirt to draw out an old dark gold feather. Which like Rose's was fashioned into a necklace. He looked at it for a little while then he put it back under his shirt. Cody blinked and stood back up. "Thanks for telling me Faloo. Alert me when Bianca and Bernard get here."

He turned to Rose "The Rescue Aid Society." He explained to her confusion. He nodded to Faloo and the other animals before he started toward a large rock out cropping. He gave 2 short but audible whistles. He turned to Rose again. "We could go back to the cabin for the jeep, but this is faster."

Rose shrugged. "I don't mind." She smiled as 2 golden shapes wheeled toward them. Rose had only been here 2 days, yet she felt as if she belonged here. She waved at Arana as she came thru the top of the trees. With a gust of wind both eagles landed.

Instead of looking proud and majestic, they looked tired and sad. Rose felt like crying as she looked at Arana, she knew Cody felt the same way with Lightning. They could both feel the sadness and loss from the kidnapping. But then Cody rubbed his watery eyes and smiled. "You ready to find your mom?" he asked his friend and partner. Lightning raised his head and gave an ear piercing scream to the sky. Arana did the same. Rose and Cody both climbed on at the same time. Rose patted Arana's back in signal. They began to rise from the ground in unison. When they reached the clouds, Cody looked around and pointed out the right way, a determined look on his face. As they sped thru the white hills, Rose wondered what was in store for them at the end of the flight. She decided to enjoy the ride and leave that thinking for when they got there.


	3. Distress

**Hey readers, hope u like the story so far. I probably should redo the first chappie. I left out too many details. Review and tell me what u think. Same disclaimer as in the 1st chappie. **

**Chapter 3**

**(Distress)**

As they cleared the forest into sheer desert, Rose and Cody closed their eyes to the dust blowing into their faces. Sensing this, Arana and Lightning flew lower so Cody and Rose could squint to make out the giant rock formations scattered along the outback.

Soon enough they came about the face of a particularly large out-cropping of rocks. Rose and Cody closed their eyes again as Lightning and Arana kicked up a red dust whirlwind as they landed. Both Rose and Cody jumped to the ground. They both stared at the collage of metal that made up the door to McLeach's lair. Rose ran over to Cody, "So what's the plan?" she asked.

Cody thought for a few seconds. "We need to get in there, somehow." He thought aloud.

Rose nodded in agreement.

Suddenly the ground shook and they both watched as the door began to swing upward. Rose and Cody both turned to their partners, and climbed on. As they began to rise into the air they looked down to see the giant machine aiming at them. It fired at Rose and Arana. The shot missed them but as Arana dodged the hit, Rose slid of and began to fall towards the hard red ground. Arana flew down to catch her and barely caught her before flying back up into the air. Except as they rose, another shot was fired. This one contained rope with little balls at the end. They wrapped around Arana's leg and pulled her down.

Cody flew towards them but was stopped when Rose shouted at him. "I got it, don't come closer." He nodded in understanding and flew back to the sky.

Rose jumped down and grabbed the rope with her left hand. With her right hand she drew her pocket knife and began to saw at the rope. At this time the rope began to draw closer to the machine, and Arana strained, trying to fly away. Cody and Lightning looked from afar with worry. Rose grinned when the rope finally cut loose. She held on to the rope that Arana was attached to, and for a moment rose back into the air, until her hand began to slide off the rope. In her worry to get the rope loose her hands hand become sweaty. She tried to grip the rope with her other hand but the rope was slick with sweat already, within seconds she dropped into the cage and heard the door above her slam.

Arana saw what happened and began to fly back. Rose panicked. "No Arana, stay back and save yourself!" she cried. Arana looked helpless and still came closer. "Arana!" she shouted. "Stop! Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Go back to Cody and Lightning and wait for the Rescue Aid Society." Tears streamed down her face as she beat the side of the cage.

Arana dropped her head in defeat but she knew what the right choice was. She wheeled around back to Cody and Lightning. Cody heard her screaming and understood. But he couldn't stop the tears either. Suddenly he heard a voice. _'Don't worry, I'll find Marahute and her newborns' _

Cody's eyes widened at the realization Rose was talking in his mind, then he smiled sadly. As he relayed back, '_I know you will.'_

Rose watched them fly off into the distance while she waited to meet her enemy. She turned her eyes as the door opened and closed and straightened up trying to look fierce even though on the inside she was scared as hell.

He came around to the side of the cage and looked in only to jump back in surprise. "Who the hell are you?" he asked.

Rose got a good look at him. He was a fierce man of maybe 50, Rose guessed. He was slightly balding with brown hair hugging his head, threaded with grey. He wore a long over coat with a Crocodile Dundee hat and patched up pants and a t-shirt. "I should be asking you the same thing!" she shot back.

He smiled, not a warm smile, but a scary, evil, smile. "The name's Alan, Alan McLeach." Brother to the man who used to own this land and now owner." He said smoothly. "Now it's your turn."

Rose tilted her head in agreement. "My name's Rose, what do you want with Marahute?" she asked with fierceness.

Alan's face scrunched in confusion. "Mara..what a? Ahh, you must mean the eagle I caught this morning and her chicks. Yep she put up quite a fight, but in the end she was mine for the taking."

Rose's face darkened with anger. "You heartless man, I should expect this coming from you. Your brother was bad enough." She thought of Cody's stories and cringed.

Alan laughed. "Yes, we were very much alike. Now who was the young man with you?"

"I don't think that's your business!" she responded.

"Oh but it is, cause you're going to tell me where to find them and I'm going to catch them." He started to walk back towards the front of the truck.

Rose threw her fists against the cage. "You stay the hell away from Arana!" she screamed, before sliding down to her knees, tears coming down her cheek. '_Please be safe.' _She thought to herself. Her world darkened as the huge machine/truck was moved back into the rock formation and the garage door swung down to cover her in darkness.

**Sry this one is soo short. Hope u enjoyed, stay tuned for more. **

** SailorKMoonie**


	4. Planning

**Hey readers, once again sry the last chapter was short, hopefully this one will be longer. Read and review and same disclaimer as the 1st chappie. **

**Chapter 4**

**(Planning)**

Cody, Lightning and Arana landed on the top of the canyon near Marahute's hest; now only occupied by Goliath. Cody untied the rope attached to Arana's leg and tried to comfort her by gently stroking her head. "Don't worry girl, we'll get her back. I'll make sure of it." He knew Rose could take care of herself, but in the back of his mind he remembered his capture and torture he was put through when he was just a boy. He cringed and his face darkened with anger.

Suddenly a low resonate sound came from the forest. The same note that had woken him up long ago. He looked to Arana, "Stay here with your dad, okay. I'll whistle when I figure out a plan." She nodded and flew down to her old nest. He own was a couple miles down the canyon.

Cody looked to Lightning. "Let's go boy!" he hopped on his back and they took off to the forest.

As they landed, Cody looked to Faloo in question. She reached into her pouch and produced two little mice. Cody's face brightened then furrowed in confusion. "That's not Bianca and Bernard." He said in obviousness.

The two mice were boy and girl and were indeed Rescue Aid Society members. But the girl wore a black tank top and a denim newsboy cap while the boy wore a loose blue t shirt and wore his sunglasses on top of his head. "We're their kids." The girl answered his unspoken question. "They retired about 2 years ago and gave they're places to us. My name's Bailey." She turned to her brother.

He smiled, "My name's Brandon, were here to rescue you."

Cody nodded and smiled nervously as he kneeled down to talk to them more easily. "It's not really me who needs rescuing, my….friend, was captured right after Marahute and her chicks were caught."

Bailey covered her mouth with both paws. "I'm so sorry; we should have gotten here sooner."

Cody shook his head, "No actually you got here in record time. Anyway we need to rescue them and fast before something happens to her…them." He corrected himself.

They both nodded. "Can you take us to where they're being held?" Brandon asked.

Cody nodded, and grabbed his chin in thought. "We were there a little while ago and that's how Rose got captured. We need to think of something before we get there this time." He thought aloud.

They both cocked their heads in confusion.

"Rose is my friend. I brought her here from school, and she was captured when we attempted to rescue Marahute." He told them.

"Ahh," they said in understanding.

"Well," Bailey said while clapping her hands together. "No time to waste, lets go."

Cody smiled and picked them up in his hands, before climbing back onto Lightning and flying off into the distance.

Meanwhile……………………..

Rose sighed in defeat. Alan had stuffed her back her in a tiny tin cage. She looked around to see that many other animals were in the same predicament as she was, all with the expression of sadness. She tried to raise their hopes and calm them, but the truth was that she couldn't even calm herself. She sat back against the wall of the cage and thought of her predicament. _'I gotta find Marahute and her chicks.' _She looked around again but couldn't find any place big enough to hide both the chicks and Marahute. She looked down at the lock; a big hunk of metal. She kicked at the lock to no avail.

Then an idea hit her, she pulled out her Swiss Army Knife from the front of her shirt (so Alan wouldn't find it) and drew out the wire snapper. She began to cut away at the cage and as soon as she was free she promised the animals she would come back for them. She tiptoed toward the door and listened. She could hear soft snoring noises, but she wasn't fooled. She looked around the room and found another door. She carefully stepped through the door, trying to make sure the door didn't creak. She sighed in relief when the door opened soundlessly. She sneaked thru and closed the door soundlessly. _'Gotta find Marahute fast, before he realizes I'm gone.' _

The room she had entered was dark; she didn't want to run the risk of Alan seeing the light. She threw her arms out in front of her and walked forward. _'Damn army knife has everything BUT a flashlight' _she thought to herself. Her fingers collided with soft feather and Rose jumped back. Then she realized with huge relief it was only Marahute. _'Why didn't she wake up?'_ she asked herself. She felt around more and found ropes holding her down. Her arms began to adjust to the darkness and she was able to make out her huge form.

She walked around Marahute and found her chicks still asleep next to their mother. They, unlike Marahute, began to cheep furiously when they saw her. Rose quickly tried to quiet them down and could make out small messages from their chirping. _'Where are we?' Why won't mom wake up?' 'I'm hungry!' _She managed to quiet them down and assured them that everything would be okay. She tried to shake Marahute awake but realized she had been drugged. She looked around the room again and realized they we at the back of the rock formation hide out. There was a door behind her, big enough to fit Marahute thru. Then her eyes found a sink, she grinned, and ran over to the sink, grabbed a bucket and quickly filled it with water.

She ran back over to Marahute and splashed the contents across her face. Marahute blinked her eyes and screeched while trying to get free of the bonds. Rose panicked and quickly kneeled down to pet Marahute's head in comfort. "Shhh, its okay girl, remember me, it's Rose. I'm going to free you but you have to be quiet." She whispered.

She quickly ran over to the bonds across Marahute's wings. She began to saw away. Once she was done with those she carefully undid the ropes near Marahute's head. She could see Marahute eye the knife with nervousness. When she was done she went to free the chicks. When that was done she watched Marahute stand up as much as she could with the low ceiling. Suddenly Rose heard a scream of rage and she knew she only had a short time until she was found; she quickly found a blanket and managed to gather the chicks up. She ran over to the door and pressed the open button.

As daylight streamed into the room, the back door slammed open. "NOO!" Alan screamed. She ran under the door and waited outside for Marahute. She was pushed backward when Marahute blasted through the wood into the air.

She began to run into sheer desert. Not caring where she was going or if it was the right way. Marahute followed her, refusing to leave her chicks. She heard low rumbling behind her, but didn't dare look back. Looking down she managed to fashion the top of the blanket into a knot with the 4 corners. She called up to Marahute, who came wheeling down. While still running she gave the bag up to Marahute who took the knot into her beak carefully. "Go, get Cody, and tell him I'm alright." She told her. Marahute nodded and started to take off into the distance, chicks in hand….beak. _'Whatever.'_ Rose thought. She stopped running and turned around ready to face Alan again.

Until she saw two shadows fall across the ground. She grinned up at the 2 shapes wheeling above her. "Cody!" she screamed in delight. "Arana!" Her face fell when she looked back at Alan to see him aiming for Cody and Lightning. "Noooooo!" she screamed.


	5. Safety

**Hey readers, thanks for reading this far, I'm wondering if I should make the story longer or keep it short. Tell me what u think, R&R and same disclaimer as the 1st chappie. SailorKMoonie**

**Thank u loonytunecrazy for reviewing. Here's the update u were hoping for. **

**Chapter 5**

**(Safety)**

Rose ran forward at Alan full charge as he pulled back the safety pin. She barreled into him when the shot went off, missing Cody and Lightning by a long shot. She grabbed for the shot gun while struggling to keep Alan on the ground. _'Thank god he didn't hit them.' _Rose thought as she grabbed it and threw it into the air. Arana caught it and broke it in half between her claws. The pieces rained over the ground.

Rose jumped back and ran for the nearest out cropping of rocks. She began to climb when she could hear rocks behind her shifting. She looked behind her to find Alan climbing after her knife in his teeth. Rose climbed faster looking frantically for hand and foot holds. No matter how fast she climbed, Alan was able to catch up to her; only a foot behind. Rose's hand cleared the top of the rock and she heaved herself up and ran to the other side of the flat top.

As Alan cleared the top as well he started to grin, seeing that she had no where to go. The jump off the cliff would be suicide. "Nowhere to go." He said out loud.

Rose smiled back at him "That's what you think." She saluted him before running towards him, sidestepping and digging her foot into the edge of the cliff to jump into the air. Arms behind her, one leg straight the other bent, her hair flying in the dusty wind.

Alan watched her, in slow motion, fall closer and closer to the ground. A golden streak raced past him and as a huge gust of wind hit him he covered his eyes. When he opened them, he saw Rose on Arana flying off with Marahute, Cody and Lightning into the forest. His face darkened in anger before he sneered at them. _'They can't escape me that easily.'_

Meanwhile………..

Cody was thinking the same thing as they flew to Arana's nest, since Alan now knew where Marahute's nest was. He looked back to the rest of the group and smiled as the darkened thought was forgotten. Rose and Marahute, the 2 most important things to him were back. For now he was happy.

They came upon a face of the cliff that was so close to the forest, vines draped down the side of the canyon. _'Good choice the vines hide the nest.'_ Rose thought when Arana and the rest of the gang flew into the vines and into the shade of the nest. Marahute deposited her fledglings into the already made nest. She tried to undo the knot in the blanket until Rose came over and undid the knot, allowing the chicks to see their mother and beg for food.

Rose turned around, only to be caught up in a huge hug from Cody. She smiled and blushed as she hugged him back.

"I'm so glad your okay." He said over her shoulder. He brought his head back to look at her face.

She smiled back, "What, you didn't think I couldn't take care of myself?" she asked. But she didn't get an answer.

He cupped her face in his hand and stroked her cheek with his thumb. Without even thinking, his lips came to hers and she kissed him back. He wrapped his arms around her waist and her arms were around his neck. They held for what felt like only a few seconds but in reality was more like a few minutes, before breaking and resting their foreheads against one-another's. They both smiled. "I've been wanting to do that for so long." He told her.

"Me too." She told him. They both laughed when Arana butted against Rose's back and Lightning against Cody's. They broke apart to console their partners.

Rose was just thanking Arana for catching her when Cody slapped himself in the forehead. She turned to him, laughing "What is it?"

Cody smiled, "I forgot to introduce you."

"To who?" Rose asked

Cody held out both his hands, palms up. "To us." The mice replied.

Rose blinked and brought her face closer to them. They were dressed in miniature human clothes. One was obviously a girl and the other was a boy. "Bianca and Bernard?" Rose asked.

Brandon sighed "Why does everyone assume that?" he asked. "Never mind, no, were their kids, they retired 2 years ago, my names Brandon." He waved his arms to the girl mouse "This is Bailey."

Bailey nodded her head in hello. "We're here to help catch Mcleach."

Rose nodded, and then sat down Indian style in the nest, quickly followed by Cody, Bailey and Brandon. She put her head in her hand in thought. "We need to make sure that Alan can't pose a threat to Marahute or any thing else. We need a way to get rid of him. She glanced to Cody who was about to open his mouth in suggestion. "Without killing him." She finalized. Cody closed his mouth. They sat in thought. Arana sat down next to Rose and Lightning was next to Cody. They had sent Kiah to get Goliath and tell him that Marahute was safe.

"Can't we have him arrested?" Cody asked.

"On what charge?" Rose asked.

"Kidnap and poaching." Cody said proudly.

"Prove it." She said plainly.

Cody's face fell in disappointment. They sat in silent thought for a while. "What if we caught him in the act? I mean you know he's going to try getting Marahute again."

Rose nodded. "But how are we going to get it?"

Cody dug through his backpack. He brought out a tap recorder.

Rose raised her eyebrow. "You carry a tape-recorder around with you?" she asked.

Cody nodded. "I like to record animal sounds." He explained.

Rose raised her eyebrows and nodded her head in understanding. "Alright, so now all we do is wait, right?" she asked.

"Wrong." Cody said.

**What is Cody planning? Will they catch Mcleach? All these questions could be answered in the next chapter. Stay tuned. Same bat time, same bat place. **

**SailorKMoonie says REVIEW!**


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